Zlatko Sikorsky charged with murder of Larissa Beilby0:55

After a 28 hr seige, Zlatko Sikorsky has been charged with the murder of Larissa Beilby.

July 2nd 2018

5 months ago

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Zlatko Sikorsky was arrested for questioning in connection with the discovery of a murdered girl’s body found in a barrel on the back of a ute in the Gold Coast suburb of Stapylton.Source:Supplied

THE body of a girl found dumped in a barrel that sparked a manhunt for the suspected killer has been confirmed as that of missing Brisbane teen Larissa Beilby.

Police will allege Ms Beilby was brutally beaten by Zlatko Sikorsky in the lead-up to her death, The Courier-Mail reports.

Queensland Police revealed that Sikorsky, 34, from Shailer Park, was charged Sunday with the 16-year-old’s murder and misconduct with a corpse.

Two others, a 40-year-old Palmwoods woman and a 38-year-old Alexandra Headland man, were charged with accessory after the fact to murder. The man, who identified himself on Saturday to waiting media only as “Joe”, was understood to be an occupant of the unit where a tense siege involving Sikorsky took place over the weekend.

Sikorsky barricaded himself inside a Sunshine Coast apartment during a “highly complex and lengthy negotiation”, which lasted nearly 28 hours, until he surrendered to police around 6.30pm Saturday.

On Sunday morning, the South Eastern Regional Crime Co-ordinator, Acting Detective Superintendent Mark White, said detectives had been working around the clock on the case.

“Our thoughts are very much with Miss Beilby’s family as they come to terms with and mourn her death,” Acting Detective Superintendent White said.

“We would like to thank the public for their assistance and co-operation throughout the early stages of this investigation.”

Ms Beilby’s sister Deanna opened up about the family’s tragic loss in a public post on Facebook.

“With a broken heart shattered into more than a million pieces our family is utterly destroyed to inform you all that Larissa has been taken from us,” she wrote.

“Our beautiful girl has been reunited with our beloved wife and mother. Fly high our darling angel, until we see you again Rissy.”

Sikorsky had been the subject of a massive manhunt since Wednesday, sought for questioning over the death of a then-unidentified girl found in a barrel on the back of a ute.

News.com.au understands a post mortem was completed on Friday.

Police had appealed for information regarding Ms Beilby’s whereabouts earlier this week. In a statement released on Tuesday, police said Ms Beilby was “last seen at an address on Kempster Road and has not contacted family or friends since June 18”.

She hadn’t contacted family or friends since June 18.Source:News Corp Australia

Her sister said her heart was “shattered into a million pieces”.Source:News Corp Australia

Larissa was reported missing from Sandgate in Queensland.Source:News Corp Australia

On Wednesday, it’s believed Sikorsky fled from a property at Buccan in Logan, south of Brisbane, when police went to make inquiries about Ms Beilby, about 1:30pm. Ms Beilby had been living in a halfway house in Brisbane but had been dating Sikorsky, The Courier-Mail reported.

According to the newspaper, Ms Beilby expressed concerns to friends that her boyfriend Sikorsky might discover she was only 16-years-old.

She had reportedly been linked to another man before Sikorsky but left him after feeling threatened.

Police were called to the Stapylton complex where they found the badly decomposed body stuffed into a barrel on the ute’s tray.

“A further search of the vehicle uncovered a deceased person,” police said in a statement.

“Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.”

The body was so badly decomposed police warned it could take a number of days to formally identify the woman.

QLD Police earlier confirmed Ms Beilby was “associated” with Sikorsky who was able to make another getaway in a different car.

Insp Furlong would not confirm reports that officers had found bullets and knuckle dusters in the ute Sikorsky allegedly left behind.

Insp Furlong said the man who fled in the ute was at the centre of the murder investigation but that it was possible other people were involved.

“We consider him dangerous,” Insp Furlong said.

He fled from police on Wednesday. Picture: Kate ParaskevosSource:Supplied

The black ute where a young woman’s body was found in a barrel.Source:News Corp Australia

Forensic investigators arrive on the scene.Source:The Courier-Mail

THE SIEGE

At about 3:30pm on Friday, Sikorsky was located at a unit complex in Juan Street and an emergency declaration was made under the Public Safety Preservation Act.

Up to 40 police officers, including Specialist Emergency Response Team personnel, were locked in a stand-off at the complex for hours.

Police teams at the scene were refreshed in a second shift changeover as negotiations crawled into their second day on Saturday.

Superintendent Darryl Johnson of QLD Police had warned the siege could drag on for “possible days”.

“We’ve seen these situations go for lengthy periods,” Supt Johnson said on Saturday morning.

The complex was evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off by police.

Resident Fern Murphy, 24, told news.com.au that at one stage during the siege she heard a man yelling to police for about a minute that he “was turning his phone on” and waiting for them to call him.

“I then went out on my veranda and heard [more screaming],” Ms Murphy said.

Another witness said he could hear a man making demands in a neighbouring unit about wanting to speak to a woman and his father.

A witness later told The Courier-Mail Sikorsky was heard to say “I just don’t want to get shot” before ordering police to back off.

Specialist Emergency Response Team officers on day two of the siege. Picture: Lachie Millard.Source:News Corp Australia

FATHER MAKES CONTACT

Police continued to communicate with Sikorsky throughout Friday night and even allowed his father, John Sikorsky, to visit him.

John Sikorsky reportedly arrived at the complex wearing orange hi-vis just after 9pm Friday.

He exited the apartment complex almost two hours later, appearing happy and animated as he spoke to police, before driving away in a Toyota Hilux, The Daily Mail reported.

Earlier this week, John Sikorsky told The Courier-Mail people needed to “wait for police to do their job”.

“Hopefully all of this is nothing but rubbish,” he said.

“My son, he is a decent person.”

The Father of Zlatko Sikorsky arrives at the Sunshine Coast Siege to speak to his son in an apartment at Alexandra Headland, on Friday 29 June, 2018. Picture: AAP /Steve Pohlner.Source:News Corp Australia

Officers said they were being cautious in their approach and remained hopeful throughout the ordeal that Sikorsky would hand himself in.

The area surrounding the unit block was put in lockdown, with residents told to remain indoors and the public to avoid the exclusion zone.

News.com.au understands the Headland Garden holiday apartment complex, where Sikorsky was hiding, was booked out on Friday night.

WHY THE SUNSHINE COAST?

A “shocked” resident claimed he inadvertently let Sikorsky into his home, not knowing who he was, when an “old friend” brought him to visit.

The man, who said his name was Joe but didn’t want his full identity disclosed, told reporters he was the tenant of the apartment where Sikorsky has barricaded himself.

He claimed a friend he hadn’t seen in more than a year asked him if he could visit on Friday, and “brought this bloke”, according to The Daily Mail.

“Joe” said he didn’t know who Sikorsky was, or that police were seeking him, when the pair arrived.

“He seemed cool and calm, he wasn’t an angry bloke,” Joe said.

Joe claimed the building manager knocked to follow up on reports of a verbal disagreement which he had been engaged in with his ex-partner. Sikorsky opened the door before the manager reportedly recognised him, “put two and two together”, and alerted police, according to the tenant.

Joe said he and his ex-partner left the apartment, separately, about 15 minutes later. Joe said when he returned from the shops, police wouldn’t let him back in, and it was then he was “shocked” to discover Sikorsky was wanted by police.

Police believe a network of associates may have helped hide the fugitive.

Sikorsky was taken to the Maroochydore Watch House following his dramatic arrest, around 6:30pm Saturday.

The area was rendered safe after specialist police searched and cleared the scene and the emergency declaration was revoked at 7:45pm.

Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Darryl Johnson said in a statement that at all times during the incident, public safety remained the top priority of police.

“It was important to give our negotiators the time and space to help us resolve this peacefully — and I am relieved that we have been able to take this man into custody without him, any member of the public or any of our officers being hurt,” Superintendent Johnson said.

“I want to thank the people of Alexandra Headlands — particularly those living within our exclusion zone — for their patience and assistance during the last 24 hours. It is very much appreciated.”

Sikorsky, along with the man and woman charged with accessory after the fact to murder, will appear in Maroochydore Magistrates court on Monday, July 2.

Larissa was confirmed dead late on Saturday.Source:News Corp Australia

Larissa Beilby was last seen in Sandgate on June 15.Source:News Corp Australia